Sixers' Michael Rubin says he's selling stake in team

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Sixers limited partner Michael Rubin will be selling his stake in the team, he said in a statement Wednesday morning.

Rubin has been part of the Sixers’ ownership group since 2011. He is the CEO of sports apparel company Fanatics.

“As our Fanatics business has grown, so too have the obstacles I have to navigate to ensure our new businesses don’t conflict with my responsibilities as part-owner of the Sixers,” Rubin said in his statement. “With the launch of our trading cards and collectibles business earlier this year — which will have individual contracts with thousands of athletes globally — and a soon-to-launch sports betting operation, these new businesses will directly conflict with the ownership rules of sports leagues.”

The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Rubin’s share in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Sixers and Devils, is 10 percent. 

Sixers managing partner Josh Harris said in a statement released by the team that Rubin’s decision “doesn’t come as a surprise” and mentioned Rubin will “continue to be a courtside presence and a key partner in our collective commitment to be a force for good in Philadelphia.”

Rubin and Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill are co-chairs of REFORM Alliance, whose mission is “to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing.” The Sixers and Reform co-hosted an event for children whose parents have been negatively affected by the criminal justice system in December, and Harris Philanthropies donated to the organization. 

Rubin is known to be friendly with Sixers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden. A front-row regular at Wells Fargo Center, he’ll now be rooting for the team without a stake in it. 

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